Construction equipment, including pavers, placers, trimmers, finishers, graders, and many agricultural and mining machines (e.g., harvesters), often require precise control in many directions including azimuthal, vertical (e.g., rise and fall), horizontal, longitudinal, and latitudinal adjustments to obtain a desired grade and/or slope. In order to provide precise control, the equipment may have actuators, including hydraulic cylinders, gears, pulleys, and other implements, in communication with sensors to obtain one or more outputs to apply a moveable force, resulting a desired grade and/or slope.
Current grade control systems of construction equipment are unstable and often difficult to initialize and operate. These systems and configurations often rely on a one-to-one correspondence between sensors and actuators (e.g., Single Input Single Output “SISO” systems), which fail to proportionally account for actuation reciprocity. Failing to account for actuation reciprocity may result in the generation of one or more false output signals and inaccurate or imprecise slope control.
Some advanced systems and configurations may employ a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller. Current PID controllers are subject to operator tuning error or cause significant processing and time delays (e.g., gain must be adjusted up or down until operator is satisfied). Responsive slope and elevation control is necessary for curb and gutter work, highway reconstruction, trail paving, some precision agricultural and mining operations, and in circumstances where space and budget is tight. Higher customer expectations require a more responsive control system that can anticipate predictable disturbances.
Consequently, it would be advantageous if an apparatus existed that is adapted to simplify controller tuning, reduce operator error and time delays, cancel out false output signals, and simultaneously and proportionally account for actuation reciprocity.